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Baby Chickens Make Unexpected Stop in D.C.

YONGIN, SOUTH KOREA - DECEMBER 28: Chicks are seen at Everland amusement park on December 28, 2004 in, Yongin, South Korea. The year of 2005 is the year of the rooster according to the Chinese lunar calendar where each calendar year is named after one of the 12 key animals in turn and starts on February 9, 2005. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

LANHAM, Md. (CBSDC) — A D.C. post office received a surprise shipment last week when a group of baby chickens inadvertently arrived on its doorstep.

The 106 baby Rhode Island Red chickens originally were destined for Blountsville, Ala., but an apparent shipping error by their owner instead landed them Jan. 4 at a post office in Northeast D.C., according to ChristieLyn Diller, director of marketing and communications for the Washington Humane Society.

The animals’ owner, apparently concerned for the animals’ survival and well-being, transferred ownership of the chicks to the post office, which then notified the WHS, Diller said.

The chicks were taken to the WHS Animal Care and Control Facility where they were given a temporary home, fed and taken care of at the society’s Adoption Center on New York Avenue.

After a four-day layover in the nation’s capital, the WHS found the chicks a new home at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, N.Y. The chicks were transported Jan. 8 to their new home in upstate New York.